


The Friends of the Forest

by NightHowl



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Gen, a nonhero au, also idk what to call this than "lost woods au", and a special mention of a character of someone's tech that i adore the idea of, cause thats all that is special about it, with honorable mention side characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-27 08:17:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20042836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightHowl/pseuds/NightHowl
Summary: "Link's father always told him to stay away from the woods behind their little house in the open plains. He'd listen to the warning and only went as far as the tree stump at least thirty steps away from the edge of it. Curiosity could only hold back so long though..."





	The Friends of the Forest

Link's father always told him to stay away from the woods behind their little house in the open plains. "Both kids and adults tend to never come out unless they're lucky. Only a few live to tell the tale of what it has inside." Link listened to the warning and only went as far as the tree stump at least thirty steps away from the edge of it. He played his ocarina from there and only occasionally tried to peer inside. Otherwise he helped out his father with his work.

Problem was, the more he looked at the woods the more curious he got. The more curious he got the more he looked at it. It was a cycle, growing worse and worse as his curiosity started reaching its limit. One time, he got closer than thirty steps, lowering it to twenty. Soon he made it ten and then a quick five right after. Once he went to the very edge of the woods to try to see something. He could hear a slight noise that somewhat sounded like a flute and something moving about in the undergrowth. That's when Link decided that tomorrow he would take a small hike inside without his father knowing.

He packed up some small survival based things before he left out. Some food, first aid, and his ocarina. He slung on the backpack and looked for an opening to sneak past his dad going out to work in the fields. He made his way to the edge of the woods and listened once again. The flute was slightly still able to be heard but this time nothing was moving. He took his first step in slowly and cautiously as he looked around for any danger and then kept going.

It didn't seem so bad so far. Nothing really happened. Sure it was a bit dark and foggy from the thick overhang of the forest. It was a thicker forest than a normal one anyways. What can you do?

The forest music got louder though. Link decided to head for the source of it to see where it was coming from. He listened as it got louder, though some moments it went quieter than before and Link had to turn another direction in order to follow it.

He did get to the source eventually, though it seemed more impossible to Link the longer his trip went on. It seemed like a boy was dancing around and playing a flute upon a couple of tree stumps and knocked over logs. He seemed like he was having so much fun, at least for a forest that was commonly feared. His back was turned towards Link though so it was hard to tell if it really was a kid.

Eventually the boy did turn around as he hopped more stumps and that's when the music stopped. He had spotted Link and stared for a moment. Link didn't know what to do, for it wasn't just some boy. His features looked like wood rather than skin and he had a bill like a bird with two big bright orange eyes. He hopped down and made his way to Link.

"Are you lost too?" He asks Link, who took a moment to even know if he should respond. "Are you a lost kid like me?" Link shook his head, his voice stuck in his throat. "So are you an adult?" The boy gave Link a slightly seeming hostile look with that one, just adding to the fear and uncertainty. He shook his head again and the hostility disappeared. "Oh, so you are a kid?" Link nodded this time. He didn't think he was lost. The forest has to end somewhere right? "I see! You're my new friend then!"

Link blinked at first. "I-I am?"

"Uh-huh!" The boy plays a note on his flute. "My name is Skull Kid! Cool name, right?"

Link gives a slight nod. "M-may I call you Skully then? As like a nickname?"

Skull Kid seemed to like that, parking up. "Oh! As a friendly nickname? It sounds really cool!" Link felt a bit more comfortable and moved to sit on one of the tree stumps.

"So you live in these woods?" Link asks the other before Skull Kid starts playing again. He pauses on a new stump.

"Pretty much! It's fun and I can be a kid forever! I get to play my flute for my friends!" He exclaims and plays again. Link listens for a bit before he speaks up again.

"Who are your other friends?" Link asks curiously. He held his ocarina that he had in his jacket pocket, kind of wanting to play along but he wasn't sure if he should yet.

"I can call them out if you'd like! They like to hear me play!" Skull Kid says, bouncing back to his previous stump to be closer.

"That'd be nice." Link says and watches Skull Kid whistle to get his nearby friends' attention. With normal forest creatures, a few other kinds that stuck out a bit came with. A red and white fox with multiple along with golden feathered birds. Glowing bunnies with owl looking faces bounced around towards the clearing but seemed weary of Link at first. A young dragon seemed to be another, flapping its wings as if it can't fly yet but was trying to anyways. They all sat around the stumps and called out to Skull Kid in what seemed to be greeting.

"That's Medli and Komali." He points at the golden birds. "Then there's Malon." He points at the fox with multiple tails. "Then Skirrsa is over there." He points at the young dragon. He continues to name other names for the common animals and all the bunnies, though Link started to get lost in all the names, especially with creatures that there was a few looking the same.

"Are you going to play us a song again?" A voice said but Link didn't know where it came from until the fox changed its form into a young girl's. A kitsune. "I can sing with you if you'd like."

"That'd be great! We can totally do that!" Skull Kid exclaimed and bounced on his stump. Link decided to speak up finally.

"I-I can play my ocarina with you guys too. I think I'm pretty good at it at least." He offers and pulls it out of his hoodie. The two look over and Skull Kid bounces more.

"That'd be extra great!" He exclaims. "I can teach you my favorite song then!"

It wasn't that hard of a song, a simple few notes that could be repeated in loop almost without being realized. Not exactly, but it was a fun small song to play with the other two. After that Skull Kid played a game with some of his forest friends and Link. It made him understand why the other liked staying here. Though he had to definitely get home soon. He can't live under the excuse of playing in the fields forever like this.

Link asked if Skull kid knew the way out. "Nope! Never tried." He says with a shrug. The kitsune, Malon, did speak up though.

"I know a way if you follow me." She shifts to her kitsune form to be ready to lead. Link said his goodbyes before following after Malon through the Lost Woods. She only went to the edge though, not daring to step out. "Don't tell anyone about us."

"Why not?" Link asks, though part of it may be obvious. Just for the clarification if there was more to it.

"With everyone scared of the unknown forest that can get you lost in an instant, you talking about it might make people find ways around its natural defense. Brave kids like you can only get in if they're lucky to not be lost, though there aren't many willing to go in a place like this where even brave adults don't make it thanks to the Lost Kids nor do many make it out." Malon explains. "Even I must go now before I'm spotted. Goodbye, and come visit again if you'd like!"

Malon bounded off back into the forest after that and Link made his way back home. Coming back to such a mystical forest sounded very nice indeed, for more fun and friends. It'd be nice to get to know all of Skull Kid's friends, though that means he'd have to sneak around his dad more often than he would normally like, but that shouldn't be too bad, right?


End file.
